Re: bees been treatment free for 3 years now they have alot of mites do i worry

There have been many posts suggesting that if you see DWV, in numbers, then your hive is doomed if you do not treat. DWV is a virus in bees and can be/is exacerbated by mites. I see DWV, but by doing mite counts, one can decide if it is mite numbers or not. Along another line that was in the previous post,#20, I picked up a swarm last June. Did great till fall. Did a mite count. I quite at forty! I was looking to "cull" some hives that I didn't think would make it as I had to feed most of my hives. Most advice leaned toward they were doomed so why waste energy. I believe it was Michael Bush that posted with, "How do you know what they can do unless you give them the chance." Something to that effect. Stress induced response. They have made it through the winter and are dragging pollen in like the rest. I wondered the same thing as poster 20. Mites run to the small brood numbers and starve. At least some of them. If this queen does what she did last summer, they might just recover. I'm not going to start mass producing queens from her, but she will be interesting to watch, make a split, and see what the daughter does from this yard. Just my observations and thoughts.

03-07-2012, 08:01 AM

Solomon Parker

Re: bees been treatment free for 3 years now they have alot of mites do i worry

Quote:

Originally Posted by sqkcrk

If one does have a desire to select colonies to raise queens from as part of a treatment free beekeeping style, wouldn't finding the hives w/ the naturally lowest mite count be a selecting factor. I would think that low mite counts in treatment free bees would indicate something positive, which one may wish to select for.

Not necessarily. Production is job 1. Breed for production from those that survive the mites. That and gentleness. It takes a little time, but the treatment-free part naturally selects for disease and parasite resistance.

03-07-2012, 08:23 AM

FlowerPlanter

Re: bees been treatment free for 3 years now they have alot of mites do i worry

If you are also worried about swarming you could alway split your hives, this way you will have replacement just incase.